Morocco rescuers dig for five-year-old boy trapped in well

Moroccans waited anxiously Thursday as authorities said a dramatic operation to rescue a young boy trapped in a deep well for more than 40 hours was nearing its end.

The five-year-old, named Rayan, fell down the narrow 32-meter (100-foot) deep well on Tuesday evening in his home village near Bab Berred in the rural northern province of Chefchaouen, local media said.

"The child's rescue is approaching," government spokesman Mustapha Baitas said Thursday. "Our hearts are with the family, and we are praying that he will back with them as soon as possible."

The shaft was too narrow for rescuers to reach the bottom, so heavy diggers were dispatched to dig a hole alongside it.

On Thursday afternoon, news website Le360 said that "only nine meters" (30 foot) remained to be dug "that will allow rescuers to reach the boy".

The MAP news agency said rescuers had been able to send him oxygen and water via pipes.

Rayan's father told Le360 he had been repairing the well when the boy fell into it.

Lead rescuer Abdelhabi Temrani told Al Oula television that the diameter of the well was less than 45 centimeters.

Baitas said the nature of the soil meant it was too dangerous to try to widen the hole, meaning major excavations around it were the only solution.

The drama has sparked an outpouring of sympathy online, with the Arabic hashtag #SaveRayan going viral across the North African region, including in neighboring Algeria.

The boy's fate has also attracted crowds of people to the site of the operation, putting pressure on rescuers operating in "difficult conditions", Baitas said.

"We call on citizens to let the rescuers do their job and save this child," he said.

Authorities have also prepared a helicopter to take the child to hospital once he is extracted, national news channel 2M said.

© 2022 AFP